The morning of September 11th is overcast, with intermittent rain and gusty winds. It is warm, though, and humid.
As you are sitting in one of Occa's dining rooms enjoying a breakfast of eggs, ham and breads, a stone suddenly comes crashing through one of the windows, spraying you all with glass.
The stone lands in Occa's coffee cup, breaking it and spraying him with hot coffee.
There is a note tied to the stone.
A soggy note.
Occa reads the note...
It says, in a crude scrawl:
"COME TO THE MAIN MARKET OUTSIDE THE 'DWARF IMMEDIATELY. BE VISIBLE AND ALONE."
It is unsigned.
"Occa, nice friends you have.." Salaam says with a smile.
"Not my friends."
"Hmm," Gilstrock grunts. "Doesn't say who, does it? Maybe it means all of us, alone, just the twelve of us, and nobody else."
"Can we send Cannon Fodder?" Jesse asks, "And oh great arch mage, can you shrink us down to fit in his copous pockets?"
Occa says, "We know what it means. Okay, if I am not back in two hours or Cannon Fodder turns to snow, I would like for you guys to completely level that inn we were at. Additionally, track down Guido until he is dead."
He makes sure his stoneskin is up and running.
"Occa, leave us a locket of hair or the like, and if we see that CF is snow, we can use it to ressurect you. Right Salaam?" Jesse says.
"Good idea." He hands one over. "Also, protect this...it is my most valuable item."
He hands Jesse a ring and then heads out.
Occa heads to the meeting place.
An hour or so after he left you all, Occa teleports back in.
The weather outside is deteriorating steadily, with a steady rain and a rising wind.
He says to Pharian, "He wants 20,000 gps for your ring. He is also going to look into getting us some magical items. Of course, he will charge us for them, but it may help. We will see."
"Bastard!" hisses Pharian. "Cocky bastard!"
Occa says, "Do you want it back or not? Is it just an invisibility ring or is it your ring of regeneration?"
"It's an invisibility ring, yes I want it back, 20,000 gold pieces is far too much, he stole it from me while I was insane, he really deserves to have that rat-hole of his blasted into oblivion, and I have more than half a mind to do it myself. I've already got all the thieves of another world wanting to kill me, so why not this world, too?"
"Unscruplous thieves deserve all they get. I am quite willing to join in and help you level the place."
"Thanks," says Pharian, dryly.
Occa says, "Whatever you want to do is fine. Wait, however, until I hear from him. We can equip ourselves first. Then you may do whatever you please."
Jesse brightens up at this.
"Can I help... I'd love to cast a fireball or two." she says.
"Er," Gilstrock says, looking back and forth at Occa and Pharian. "Let me get this straight. We're a party with no less than two arch-mages; another wizard or two beyond that; a high priest of a couple of really significant gods; a couple of fighter lords; and other, pretty amazing people. And, here we are, faced with a two bit little thief who runs a dive somewhere in the nastier parts of town, and we're gonna let him push us around? The way I see it, we all go down there, explain kindly to him that he is going to give Pharian his ring back, and all part friends."
"Gilstrock, I'm kind of with you. However, thieves guilds are typically like a hydra, many headed and harder than a troll to kill. And they are typically difuse, meaning it can be incrediably difficult to find where they are. Blasting that inn, while fun and I want to help, would not get to the problem." says Jesse. "If we had a way to see where the ring was, perhaps with a crystal ball or something like that, we could teleport in and get it, and teleport out. That might be easiest" the bard says innocently.
"That is a good idea, Jesse," says Pharian. "I was so pissed off I wasn't thinking straight."
"On the other hand," Gilstrock says, "if we weren't all tied up with this dragon stuff for Valdar, I'd say that trying to take out the thieve's guild might be a good thing for us to do. Might even make some official or another happy, except that they're all probably on the thieve's guild payroll."
Occa says, "I have a feeling Guido may be the one who really runs this city. This might be a task for much later when we have much more time and can go into hiding while we fight that fight."
Pharian rolls his eyes. "Oh, actually, come to think of it, I think that Guido might be the supreme ruler of all of Amrica. And he sleeps in Baba Yaga's hut, and plays cards with Zeus every Friday night. Occa, for god's sake, just because you're an arch-mage now doesn't mean you have to be all cryptic and mysterious about everything. Where the hell is all of this coming from?"
Occa smiles. "Back on my home world there is an organization that is called the gauntlet. They are very much like the mafia of another planet I visited....a sort of organized crime ring. Anyway, I believe Guido to be the head of such an organization. I also believe that he is not a thief, but is, rather, a very, very powerful Arch Magi. There is much more to him than meets the eye."
Gilstrock shakes his head. "This place is out of hand. If you're right, between you, Stiff, and Guide, I've now met more arch mages than I'd even heard of before I got to this Amrica place!"
Occa nods and says, "It is the power that we have that has revealed all of this to us...it seems powerful people attract other powerful people somehow. I believe Guido wants us to be allies of his...he is sort of testing the waters right now. At least that is my hunch. I figure we should work with that if we can...if not, then we know what we can do. Also, don't forget Ray Jay, she is also an Arch-Magi."
He shakes his head.
"Oh yeah. Ray Jay. Sheesh," Gilstrock says, shaking his head. "But, I dunno about being allies with this Guido fellow if his idea of an alliance is charging us way mondo fees to return something which is rightfully ours anyway."
"Oh, what about that spaceship? I would love to go explore that at some point. Maybe we should commune with the gods and see what the best course of action is for us."
He shrugs and says, "I agree that we shouldn't take this kind of shit, but he may also be able to provide a good deal to us. Let us find that out first, then you can all go off and blast him to dust. Good luck."
"Hold on," says Pharian. "First you tell me that I am welcome to go blast him, and then you happen to mention that you think he's an arch-mage? Well, thanks for wishing me luck. What makes you think that he's an arch-mage, anyway? Did you get some special new sense of smell to go with your wrinkles and body fat?"
Occa chuckles and says, "No, because after following a series of notes, I found him at the mages guild. I asked him where I could find him later...he said there. Also, the fact that he seems to run the mages guild seems to indicate that he is a mage. Of course, I could be wrong..my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be."
Pharian scowls. "Well that does make him sound like a mage. So what the hell is he doing hanging out in that dive bar? And why did he act like such a whiney whimp when you and Gilstrock came charging in to rescue me? It all seems very strange."
"If he is a powerful mage, Ray Jay must know something about him," Pharian adds.
"That would be a good place to ask, although I would wait until after our dealings. If he finds out we are asking about him, then he may think we are planning a strike against him."
"Another thing that's strange," says Pharian, "is that he is offering tosell magic items at all, when Ray Jay is hoarding them, and no one else inthe entire city is selling them. Maybe that's why Guido is jacking upthe prices to such outrageous levels. But it still seems that Ray Jay can't be too happy with the situation, if she knows about it."
"And, Occa, do you have any inkling why Ray Jay is hoarding magic?"
"No, but I would wager that it isn't good."
"Didn't Ray Jay run stuff like that?" Gilstrock asks.
He shrugs and says, "I have no idea. For all I know, he could be Ray Jay. We just don't know enough yet and I am not eliminating any possibilites. I say we get what we can from him and then finish our business with the dragons..we will have much more time and power after that."
He pauses and says, "Also, do you guys want me to start clones of you? They take 2-8 months to grow before they can be dangerous, but if someone here is killed in a manner we cannot ressurect or wish back...we have that as a final backup. I am thinking we can kill the incomplete clones off every so often so that they aren't a danger. I have created one of myself and have it in a secret place...I will show it to you all later so that you know of it, but I don't want anyone else know about it."
"Waiddaminnit..." Gilstrock says. "You want to make copies of us???" He sounds vaugely horrified by the whole idea. "What kind of guarantees would we have that they wouldn't go around the world, you know, acting like Al and making people think it was us doing it, and ruining our reputation? What if we don't get back in time to kill of the incomplete version? What if.... well, the whole idea just kinda creeps me out."
"Occa says, "Me too. However, there is no possibility of them being like Al...they are you in every way. There is a chance that if it comes into being while you are still alive that you or it can go insane. However, you are unlikely to go insane, while it probably will. Then it will probably kill itself. It is a nice backup in case we get killed."
"Wait a minute here, what is a clone?" Jesse asks, "And why would we make them and then kill them off? Doesn't sound natural."
"A clone is a duplicate of you. We would make them in case we get killed and can't be brought back. We will kill them so that they don't become a danger to us. Finally, it isn't natural."
"Pharian, I have a lot of money saved and if you need it, or if anyone needs it, to get equipment or whatnot from this fellow, I am willing to part with it." Jesse offers.
Then to Stiff..."Let's go pool hopping again!"
Occa is ready to go to new pools.
"Don't forget, Occa, I still need to be trained a level," says Pharian.
Occa says, "Ugh. Can you have Stiff train you? I could be doing tons of stuff during that month in order to prepare us for our next foray."
Pharian turns to Stiff and looks at him inquiringly.
"Stiff or Occa, I am ready to explore the new pools when you are ready!" Salaam says in a determined voice.
Stiff says, "Let's hold off on going around the pools until everyone is finished training and stuff."
Suddenly, Igor the doorman shuffles in.
"Master, master! There is a crowd of people at the door!" he wheezes. "They claim to be here to see Lord Angst! Shall I send them on their way?"
"No, no, he must have reached Ranger Lord and has attracted many a strange follower due to his bounding reputation."
"Ohhh...that..!" says Igor, looking at Angst with his glass eye.
Occa sighs. "Have them wait outside. Have someone prepare some food and drink for them."
"Oh, yes Master!" Igor says, and shuffles away.
He turns to Pharian and says, "Sheesh, we mages could take a whole squad of Rangers and yet we never get such followings!"
Occa goes to the kitchen to read the daily Sandas paper.Then, he grabs Pharian and starts to train him.
Angst goes and meet the people and introduce himself to them.
There are 14 people waiting in the foyer under the portrait of Occa.
They introduce themselves as -
Joe - Lvl 2C in the service of Odin
Jill - Lvl 3D (Odin)
Peter - Lvl 6F
Walter - Lvl 4F
Darya - Lvl 3D (Odin)
Eric - Lvl 3R
Paul - Lvl 2F
Kira - Lvl 3F halfling
Jean - Lvl 3F halfling
Vitor - Lvl 3F halfling
Marian - Lvl 5F
Sue - Lvl 2D (Odin)
Diane - Lvl 4D (Odin)
Joan - Lvl 1/1 F/T halfling
Unless otherwise noted, all are human